Measuring Solar Activity

  • Lee Macdonald
Chapter
Part of the Patrick Moore's Practical Astronomy Series book series (PATRICKMOORE)

Abstract

The most scientifically useful, and in some ways the easiest, type of solar observation an amateur astronomer can make is to measure the level of activity seen on the Sun. This is best done by counting the number of sunspots and/or sunspot groups visible on the Sun’s disc each day. Other methods of measuring solar activity are used by professional observatories, but sunspot counting is the most practical option for the amateur.

Keywords

Solar Cycle Sunspot Number Sunspot Group Relative Sunspot Number Sunspot Data 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media New York 2012

Authors and Affiliations

  • Lee Macdonald
    • 1
  1. 1.CambridgeUK

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